Pattern of Soft Tissue Tumours- A Histopathological Study

Soft tissue is defined as the complex of non epithelial extraskeletal structures of the body exclusive of the supportive tissue of the various organs and the hematopoietic/lymphoid tissue. It is composed of fibrous tissue, adipose tissue, skeletal muscle, blood and lymph vessels and peripheral nervous system. Soft tissue tumours constitute a large and heterogenous group of neoplasms. These tumours may arise in any location, 40% occur in the lower extremities especially the thigh, 20% in the upper extremities, 10% in the head and neck and 30% in the trunk and retroperitoneum. WHO has classified soft tissue tumors in different categories like Adipocytic tumors, Fibroblastic, Fibro-histiocytic, Smooth muscle, Pericytic, Skeletal muscle, Vascular, Chondro-osseous & tumors of uncertain differentiation. These are further subdivided into Bengin, Intermediate & Malignant. Majority of soft tissue tumours are benign. Benign mesenchymal tumours outnumber sarcomas by a factor of 100. Males constitute 61.5% cases as compared to females i.e 38.4% cases. Benign tumours are roughly equally distributed across all parts of the body with a slight predilection for the upper parts i.e. head and neck and trunk region. Of the benign soft tissue tumours, 99% are superficial in location and 95% of tumours average less than 5cm in size. One-third are lipomas, one-third are fibrohistocytic and fibrous, 10% vascular tumours and 5% nerve sheath tumours. Rosai and Ackerman.(1) Soft tissue tumors may be further defined by the location of the lesion and the age of the patient like in the retroperitoneum, approximately half the benign lesions in the 16 to 25 age group are fibromatosis (20%), schwannoma (14%) and neurofibroma (13%). For the same location in children 5 years or younger, almost two thirds of the benign tumors are lipoblastoma (37%) or lymphangioma. Soft tissue tumors may be further defined by the location of the lesion and the age of the patient like in the retroperitoneum, approximately half the benign lesions in the 16 to 25 age group are fibromatosis (20%), schwannoma (14%) and neurofibroma (13%). For the same location in children 5 years or younger, almost two thirds of the benign tumors are lipoblastoma (37%) or lymphangioma. Soft tissue tumors may be further defined by the location of the lesion and the age of the patient Introduction Abstract Soft tissue is defined as the complex of non epithelial extraskeletal structures of the body exclusive of the supportive tissue of the various organs and the hematopoietic/lymphoid tissue. It is composed of fibrous tissue, adipose tissue, skeletal muscle, blood and lymph vessels and peripheral nervous system. Soft tissue tumours constitute a large and heterogenous group of neoplasms. WHO has classified soft tissue tumors in different categories like Adipocytic tumors, Fibroblastic, Fibro-histiocytic, Smooth muscle, Pericytic, Skeletal muscle, Vascular, Chondro-osseous & tumors of uncertain differentiation. These are further subdivided into Bengin, Intermediate & Malignant. Pattern of a particular disease in any population is studied with the idea of obtaining information about the clinical presentation, the varied morphology and the etiological factors that can be assessed in relation to its prognosis. The present study was undertaken with a view to getting information about the rate of prevalence, relative frequency of various histopathological types of neoplasms and morphological patterns of soft tissue tumors in our institution.